Immunity wanes over time, study suggests . . . Antibody responses to the coronavirus may diminish over time, according to a study that showed the natural defenses waning in Britons who’d previously been exposed. Among 365,000 randomly selected U.K. adults who tested themselves at home, 4.4% had antibodies in September, compared with 6% in June, according to research published Tuesday by Imperial College London and polling service Ipsos MORI. The study suggests that antibodies, a marker of exposure to the coronavirus, may not be lasting in all people who have been infected, adding to other research indicating that immunity may be finite. A small but growing number of patients have fallen ill with Covid-19 twice, and it’s not clear how long antibody protection from any vaccine would last. Bloomberg

 

Coronavirus causes "brain fog" that can knock eight points off your IQ . . . Coronavirus could age the brain by ten years or cause IQ to fall, a study has suggested. Researchers have warned that survivors of the worst cases of the virus could be at risk of lasting mental damage, equivalent to an 8.5-point drop in IQ or the brain ageing a decade. This 'brain fog' has already been reported by sufferers for weeks, even months after recovering from Covid-19.

Supreme Court rules ballots in Wisconsin must be received by Election Day . . . The Supreme Court on Monday ruled against a request by Wisconsin Democrats to allow an extension for mail-in ballots that are received after Election Day. In a 5-3 ruling, the justices refused to reinstate a lower court order that called for mailed ballots to be counted if they are received up to six days after the Nov. 3 election. A federal appeals court had already put that order on hold. Democrats argued that the flood of absentee ballots and other challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic makes it necessary to extend the period in which ballots can be counted. Republicans had opposed extending the Nov. 3 deadline, saying that voters have plenty of opportunities to cast their ballots by the close of polls on Election Day and that the rules should not be changed so close to the election. Fox News

 

 

Biden raises idea of rotating Supreme Court justices . . . Biden indicated on Monday that he might be open to shifting Supreme Court justices to lower courts if elected president, noting that he hadn't made any "judgement" yet on the issue. “There is some literature among constitutional scholars about the possibility of going from one court to another court, not just always staying the whole time in the Supreme Court but I have made no judgement," Biden said at a campaign stop in Chester, Pennsylvania. Fox News

 

Today's Trump Schedule 

 

Kushner slammed for saying blacks have to want to be successful . . . White House adviser and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner came under heavy criticism after he said Monday that Black Americans have to want to help themselves in order for the president's policies to help them. Kushner said on "Fox & Friends" that the president can help people in the Black community "break out of the problems that they're complaining about, but he can’t want them to be successful more than they want to be successful." USA Today 

 

Video || Biden is concerned about four more years of George Bush . . . I assume he meant George W. Bush. He was more recently on the ballot. Although it could have been George H.W. Bush, because when memory starts to go, the longer-term stuff tends to stick with you better. Anyway, I just checked and neither are on the ballot. His wife Jill, who may end up running the country a la Edith Wilson at some point, quietly corrects him. White House Dossier

 

 

Biden picks up campaign pace, a little . . . Joe Biden is picking up the pace of his campaign travel as the presidential race enters its final week, announcing plans to hit traditional battlegrounds as well as some states that seemed out of reach until recently. The Democratic presidential nominee will visit Iowa and Wisconsin on Friday, adding to a travel schedule that includes a visit to newly competitive Georgia on Tuesday and a trip to Florida on Thursday. But the pace of his travel still pales in comparison to President Donald Trump. Bloomberg

 

Kamala Harris laughs her way through questions about how liberal she is . . . I don’t understand why Kamala Harris so often gets giggly. She often seems very unserious, and she is running to be vice president of the United States and, very possibly, president.

What’s also of concern here in her interview with 60 Minutes is that she said she is going to use “my life experience as it related to any issue we confront” when she gives Biden advice. “It is the perspective of a woman who grew up a black child in America, who was also a prosecutor, who also has a mother who arrived here at the age of 19 from India,” she said. White House Dossier

 

So she will give advice based on her identity. That can be somewhat valuable. But it’s only a perspective. How about advice based on her knowledge of the issues, her thinking, and her study of history?   Or is this is she going to be making weighty decisions based on how she “feels” about things?

 

Preparations begin for post-election violence . . . Texas is preparing to send in 1,000 troops to five major cities across the state 'to deter any civil disturbance' post-election while stores in Washington DC begin to board up their windows Monday. Maj. Gen. James K. Brown, of The Texas National Guard said the move would offer support to local law enforcement 'as we did previously to deter any civil disturbance at sites in various cities within Texas'. In the nation's capital businesses close to the White House began to board up their windows Monday. Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills will also board up ahead of November 3. The US will vote on November 3 to choose between Incumbent President Donald Trump and Joe Biden. In Washington state up to 300 National Guard soldiers are undergoing training to to handle civil unrest and Seattle police officers have had their time off canceled. New York City has similar plans in place, as the NYPD is training every day and deploying hundreds of extra cops as it braces for Election Day and its aftermath. Daily Mail

 

US airstrike in Syria wipes out seven al Qaeda leaders . . . A US airstrike in northwestern Syria is believed to have killed seven leaders of al-Qaeda affiliates, a military official said. The strike was conducted on Oct. 22 as the alleged terrorists were meeting near the city of Idlib. The seven people who were killed were not identified, but Riordan said airstrikes like this will damage the terrorist group as they attempt to attack Americans and US allies across the globe. New York Post

 

Banners and prayers for Kamala Harris in her ancestral Indian village . . . A big banner of U.S. vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris welcomes visitors to Thulasendrapuram, a lush, green south Indian village that is praying for her Democratic Party’s victory in the Nov. 3 presidential election. The village, located about 200 miles south of the city of Chennai, is where Harris’s maternal grandfather was born more than a century ago. Its residents beam with pride at what the first U.S. senator of South Asian descent has already achieved, and many are rooting for an election result that will make her the second-most powerful person in the world’s richest country. Reuters 

 

Stimulus put on hold until after election . . . U.S. senators departed the Capitol for a pre-election break Monday, making the logistics for passing a fiscal stimulus package by next Tuesday practically impossible, even as the coronavirus continues to infect tens of thousands of Americans daily and inflict economic damage. “We’ll come back in November. The question might be, will there be something then?” Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican, said Monday. The chances of a coronavirus relief bill before Nov. 3 are “very, very slim,” he added, referring to Election Day. Bloomberg

 

Violent protests rock Philly after cops shoot black man who had a knife . . . Police in Philadelphia clashed with protesters late Monday night just hours after a Black man armed with a knife was shot and killed by two officers in the western part of the city, reports said. Officials said early Tuesday that the overnight violence resulted in 12 officers being hospitalized with various injuries, including one sergeant who broke her leg after being hit by a pickup truck at the site of one of the clashes. Fox News

 

 

Southern California fires force mass evacuations . . . Wind-driven walls of flame spurred mass evacuations in Southern California and left two firefighters badly injured on Monday, as hundreds of thousands of residents endured a second day of power shutoffs meant to counter heightened fire risks from dry and gusty weather. The latest threats came amid what meteorologists called the strongest onslaught of extreme winds - and lowest humidity levels - yet documented during an already epic California wildfire season ranked as the worst on record in terms of acreage burned. Reuters

 

Billionaire plays "Gilligan's Island" theme over and over to annoy neighbor . . . A billionaire has been accused of playing the “Gilligan’s Island” theme song on loop by his neighbor amid a dispute over a $1 million sculpture. Entrepreneur Mark Towfiq and his wife have accused Pimco founder Bill Gross and his girlfriend Amy Schwartz of harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The arguments between the neighbors began after Gross erected a netting around a 22-foot-long sculpture with pieces as high as 10 feet. The sculpture was originally put up in 2019, but only became an issue between the neighbors after the netting went up to allegedly protect the sculpture from damage. Daily Caller